FOUND IT!!!!

DYING. OF. LAUGHTER.

Must now memorize "The Man In The Moon" to add to my repertoire of Tolkien songs!!!

*runs off giggling hysterically*

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

And They Say Catholics Are Anti-Science

A HIT, A VERY PALPABLE HIT!

...To quote Shakespeare. That brings to mind, I saw a Shakespeare-ized version of Star Wars (the original movie) in Books-a-Million the other day. I only read partway through the first act but I thought it was hilarious. Darth Vader speechifying about his existence, purposes, and means while strangling a Rebel soldier - priceless.

So take that. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

It's Time To Post Catholic Pictures Again!

I can't believe that kid is sitting there. How did this come about without the Swiss Guards interfering? Then again, it is just a kid, and Pope Francis doesn't seem to mind. He's amazing that way. Probably creates headaches all the time for the Swiss Guards, but still... he's amazing.

"For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all of your ways." - Psalm 91:11

Now I want to draw that picture... such pretty wings. Of course, they aren't biologically accurate, even ignoring such things as proportion and conflicts with the existing skeletal structure (the main reason why, apparently, Smaug is going to be a wyvern in DoS). The feathers are all raggedy and out of line. But they're still fluffy and white and pretty...

St. Peter's Basilica is going UP!!!

...Come on, admit it. That would make an awesome movie. All you need to add is a fight scene involving the Swiss Guards and a chase scene involving the Popemobile, and it'd be sure to win all the Oscars!

That sounds about right. XD No, actually, I only like the smell of coffee. I don't like the taste. As for wine, I've never really had any, since what you get in Communion at the Mass isn't still wine. Oh, sure, it has the appearances of wine, but in its essence, its substance, it is no longer wine, but the Blood of Christ. That's a rough definition of transubstantiation, folks.

Read my blog, learn random weird facts. Trade? :)

Can I just say that this scene, couple with this quote, makes me very happy?

"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." - Matthew 10:35.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

"It is a departure from biblical Church teaching to refuse to acknowledge the devil's existence; to regard him as a self-sustaining principle who, unlike other creatures, does not owe his origin to God; or to explain the devil as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual, fanciful personification of the unknown causes of our misfortune."

Pope Paul VI

November 15, 1972

In other words, be mindful of what you're dressing up as and invoking tonight on this feast day of All Hallows' Eve (also, apparently, the feast day of St. Wolfgang).

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

New DoS Poster!

I finally found a version of it that will load! Yay!

Not sure what's up with the two Bilbos. It looks like the bottom left Bilbo is carrying the map. Smart idea. Thorin cannot find his way through the Shire, so it's probably better to leave the Hobbit up to leading the Company. Although I'm not sure if Bilbo would stop and ask for directions if it were necessary...

As long as he doesn't ask the Elves. We already know how that turns out.

Also... people have already noted that Thorin has a resemblance to popular depictions of Jesus here. This ought to be entertaining, as Thorin is *definitely* not a Messianic figure, whatever the fangirls might have to say on that matter.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Multi-Fandom Funnies

No, they absolutely have no idea.

In other words, you could make the argument that we Ringers had to wait ten years for another movie. Also, after There And Back Again, there will likely BE no more Tolkien movies.

Let that sink in. And now let the bawling begin. *sniff*

This explains everything!

Can. Not. Stop. Laughing. XD This is perfect, perfect, PERFECT! Brilliant use of Photoshop (or whatever program). And now I want a cookie... hmm...

In other news, I'm having problems finding Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Grr. It looks like I may be returning to the original anime sub for a while yet... at least until Maes Hughes dies. *sobs uncontrollably* I love Maes so much. He's just awesome.

Why is it that whenever someone is adorable and loveable in Fullmetal Alchemist that something bad immediately happens to them? Gaaaah. Found FMAB episode 4 (in English) yesterday and watched it. It was the Nina & Alexander one.

So. Much. Nightmare. Fuel. So. Many. Feels. Gaaaah.

I think this is one of those fandoms where, after a while, you start to wonder if it's bad for your emotional well-being. Ah, well, I have plenty of those already. *coughTolkiencough* *coughPercyJacksoncough*

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Elves Are Stupidly Fabulous

If you haven't seen this yet, you need to.

 

 

Ahahahaha. Thorin is so unimpressed. Thranduil is being all fabulous and Elrond is being... I don't know... Dracula or something with his cape? Ahahahaha. Gotta love this cast, every one of 'em.

 

Uhh. The gifs got messed up again. Grr. Ah, well, it can't be fixed now.

 

In Pace Christi,

 

Elyse

Fun With Dwarves

The comments:

| Martin Freeman at dwarf boot camp. He appears to be leading the workout. It appears Jed Brophy has no idea what he is doing. It appears Adam Brown isn't really trying at all. It appears they are all having the time of their lives.

|| look at how focused Richard is

In other news, Martin has a hard time getting on his pony:

And Aidan is laughing at him. XD

Also, Fili decides that he needs to keep an eye on his brother and so makes him hold hands while crossing the green-screen street:

There is already fanart of this, I assure you. I've seen it. It is adorable.

Oh, and bonus food fights in Rivendell! Lindir is not taking this well.

 

 

Let's zoom in on Lindir's face there...

 

 

Lindir's face is just the best thing ever.

 

 

 

 

As a bonus, here is something somebody noticed during the extended Goblin King scene:

 

| GUYS

 

| IS THAT

 

 

 





| Thorin being a precious uncle and comforting Kili?

 

 

 

 

| Yes it is!

 

Also note: look, Fili's finally there in the background! Although it really doesn't look much like Dean... Darn it, Dean! Why isn't there more of your Fili in AUJ?

 

I expect this situation to be rectified in DoS. I do. Work on it.

 

In Pace Christi,

 

Elyse

 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!

Today I had one class.

Tomorrow is our 'fall break'. Never mind that it consists of just one day. Actually, the school calendar likes to be sly and say that we have three days off by including Saturday and Sunday. This is universally derided by the students, let me assure you. However, a day off is still a day off.

I have finished all my homework for this weekend. I have (1) done my four German exercises (2) written a German paper (3) completed my chemistry homework (4) finished typing my chemistry notes for chapter 7 (8) written my lab report for this week's lab and (9) completed my physics homework. All of that but (9) was done today.

I feel remarkably accomplished.

Tomorrow I shall be able to go to Friday morning Mass for the first time in weeks.

Also, the next nine volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist (3-in-one books, basically get 1 1/2 volumes free) are sitting on my desk, waiting for me to read them. Yes, I have broken down and bought the manga. It's a better investment than Artemis Fowl (I never did get those books after all).

One of these days, I shall have to do a post outlining the most important reasons why the only Team Edward you should ever be on is Team Edward Elric. But it is not this day.

This day, I rejoice.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Boromir Speaks the Truth!

This has been scientifically proven to be impossible. Of course, it's cheese. Who can resist? Not even when the Auditors of Reality describe it as 'rotted bovine lactation' in Discworld does its appeal abate.

Praise cheese!

Furthermore:

In Boromir's world, nothing is simply done. Cue the song of, "It simply isn't done, it simply isn't doooone, it simply isn't done," from Cinderella 2.

I now must take one of my Gandalf minifigures and place it in the hallway. My main concern, however, is that someone will not notice him and step on him. My concern in such an occurrence, however incongruous, is for the harm that might befall LEGO Gandalf and not for the harm that might befall said careless person's foot, although I know firsthand how painful stepping on a small hard plastic object can be.

Fortunately, I have several LEGO Gandalfs.

Oh, yes. Most certainly, precious. I am so very happy when someone gets the joke I made. The other day in lab we were watching our compounds boil for an hour and a half. To alleviate the boredom, I randomly stated, "My bubbles." So happy to have that quote from Finding Nemo recognized and appreciated!

It's also good to have occasions in which to make fandom references! XD

Are they ever! XD Table manners and Elves are so last year. Wait... is that Ori holding a knife? Or is that Kili? Scary circumstance in either case. The silly boys... the precious noodles have obviously never been away from home before. Sometimes you think they still need their mother to look after them...

Cannot wait for the epic food fight and Bofur's song and dance in Rivendell!

If only we had more used bookstores around here. *sigh* The subject reminds me of a Terry Pratchett quote: "Used bookstores are just genteel black holes that know how to read." There's also the theory of L-space, but I shall not expound on that here. XD It's for your own sanity.

Beautiful illustration by Ted Nasmith. I don't always love the guy's Tolkien artwork, but this one is simply lovely. I also love the quote, spoken by Elrond at the Grey Havens in ROTK.

Speaking of which...

Where I found this picture, someone had commented: People hate Elrond?! My comment is along the lines of: How can you possibly hate Elrond? He's amazing, and for many reasons. Let's take a look.

If all you value about characters is their ability to kick butt, Elrond is no slouch in this department. Let's just peek at his genealogy, shall we? His mother's father's mother was a demigoddess (half-Maia, if you prefer.) His father is Earendil. Earendil killed SHELOB'S MOTHER, also known as Ungoliant, the monstrous spider Radagast refers to in TH:AUJ ("It's the spiders, Gandalf." "Spiders?" "Some kind of spawn of Ungoliant, or I am no wizard."). Earendil also killed the biggest dragon to ever live, Ancalagon the Black. And THEN Earendil became the Morning Star. And Earendil's family on both his father's and his mother's side is composed of pure awesomeness.

You see Gandalf's sword? That belonged to Elrond's great-grandfather, Turgon, King of Gondolin.

Now, if your beef with Elrond is the fact that he's 'mean' to Aragorn and Arwen, you obviously haven't read The Silmarillion. When Beren, a mortal man, wishes to marry Luthien, an Elven-Maia princess (yes, the demigoddess ancestress referred to earlier), her father, King Thingol, demanded that Beren steal a Silmaril as the bride-price. For a little context: the three Silmarils had been stolen by Morgoth, a.k.a., the Satan of Middle-earth, and he continually wore them on his crown so that no one would ever be able to recover them. Thingol basically signed Beren's death warrant in the most painful, humiliating way with that. (Of course, Beren, Luthien, and their talking dog go on to win a Silmaril and beat up Sauron himself, but whatever.)

Elrond, on the other hand, has been fostering the young chieftains of the Dunedain for generations. He treats Aragorn like a son; in fact, at one point in the LOTR Appendices, long before Aragorn and Arwen actually marry, he does call Aragorn 'my son'. When he learns Aragorn wishes to marry Arwen, all he basically says is that, "Go and prove that you are worthy enough to marry her by becoming King of Gondor and Arnor." Aragorn was already (mostly) the legal heir to both positions (it's a long story) and wanted to do this anyway. It wasn't a death sentence, just more of, "I want to make sure my daughter is taken care of properly when I leave."

I'm not sure why else people would have a problem with Elrond. Maybe they don't like his eyebrows. I dunno. Apparently, ugly people must be evil and his eyebrows give him a sinister appearance. To counteract that, I submit Elrond in armor.

Exhibit I:

Exhibit II:

 

I mean, really...

ELROND FOR THE WIN!!!

J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the least-appreciated Catholic philosophers, I sometimes think. His Catholicism is very much underappreciated. It needs to be spread and appreciated. Such greatness could have only come from the wealth of truth and beauty that is our Catholic faith.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

'Tis The Season To Bash Twilight

...la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la. Anyway. It is always the season to bash Twilight. It is eminently bash-able. What brings this up today, however, is the fact that I recently found a blog, Reasoning With Vampires, that very slowly, methodically, and hilariously goes through the books and rips apart their grammar and their stupidity.  Warning: bad language, as with 95% of everything on the Internet nowadays. Not for the faint of heart.

I think it's even improved my grammar some. After all, the swamp of commas can drown even the most wary authors, but I generally do use them to indicate pauses - just generally in reading, not in the literary action itself. Also, it has increased my desire to use sentences with simpler structures. I may also be avoiding excessive hyphenation from now on... O.o.

Now, on to the funnies!

This first picture is from Reasoning With Vampires, to give credit where credit is due:

Amen! Sing it, sister.

Yes, please, Dean. (No, not that Dean. Not Dean O'Gorman. This is Dean Winchester from Supernatural. Even I know that.)

I remember someone on Tumblr who said they wanted Robert Pattinson to play a vampire hunter on Supernatural. He wouldn't even have to be a character, they said. He could just be himself - so sick of vampires that he's taken to hunting them. Someone else reblogged this and begged for a petition to be made, saying they were "about 1000% certain" he would do it and love it.

Where is this petition? I must sign it.

For once, I agree with you, Théoden. WHERE WERE YOU, GONDOR??? WHEN OUR HOUR WAS DIRE, WHERE WERE YOUR SCRUBBING BUBBLE GHOSTS OF DOOM TO RID US OF THESE SPARKLY VAMPIRES??

For that matter, where was Rohan's cavalry? I'll take Eomer leading the charge any day... If he can take down a prehistoric elephant, he can take down a vampire.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

No one wants to believe in evil, really, and above all not in an evil being, an evil spirit. Everyone wants to abolish the idea. To admit the existence of evil means a responsibility, and no one wants that responsibility. That is the opening through which the evil spirit crawls, stilling all suspicions, making everything seem normal and natural.

- Pope Benedict XVI

In semi-related news, I finally looked up the German for something I've been meaning to for a while now:

"What is this new devilry?"

I now need an opportunity to say this. I have already used, "Das hat dir der Teufel gesagt!" once or twice, to general incomprehension. It was mostly for the lolz, though; I would never really mean something like that. The lolz comes from the fact that I found the quote in a German version of Rumpelstiltskin.

...You know, I'm not actually sure how you do spell 'Rumpelstiltskin'. Weird. O.o

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Guess Who's Feast Day Today Is!

Blessed Pope John Paul is due to be canonized next year. No, it will not set any speed records; St. Anthony of Padua wins that award.

In honor of JP2, more Catholic anime shall be posted. I consider this a good habit.

I have two of Father Amorth's books. They are real eye-openers. Nowadays we blind ourselves so often to the reality of evil and the evil spirits out there. To quote Gandalf from the most recent Hobbit trailer: "We have been blind. And in our blindness, our enemy has returned."

When the Pope takes a selfie and I haven't (okay, it isn't his phone), that's saying something. I'm not sure what it's saying, but it's saying something.

Note to self: after I finish Fullmetal Alchemist, I'm checking out Attack on Titan. It looks interesting.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse